"Noir is concerned with errors, with confusion, it's the noir idea. We don't know whats going on, but we do know something bad is out there controlling events." - Errol Morris.
This quote reminds me of the particular scene in "The Postman Man Always Rings Twice" where the character Cora Smith (Lana Turner) and the character Frank Chambers (John Garfield) are out to kill the character Nick Smith (Cecil Kellaway). They both planned to kill Nick in a non suspicious way and I didn't know their exact plan, but I knew something bad was going to occur. The mystery behind their ways of doing the murder and not getting caught kept me engaged. I love the adrenaline and like the quote above says, I did feel confused at one point for everything that was going on. For example when Cora climbs the hill and searches for help after the car rolls down had me thinking, why was it that the detectives car that was there? I guess Cora's and Frank's plan wasn't as undercover as they thought it was.
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Cora Smith is definitely a femme fatal.
"A powerful, sexual female, is a very dangerous figure." - Janey Place.
She knows she is an attractive woman and takes advantage of that to get what she wants. For example, in the scene where she dropped her lipstick, she expected Frank to walk to her, but he didn't. She wants the good life for her, which is why she plans everything in an organized way for her to get a benefit out of it. An example can be that she wants to stay with the diner if she succeeds in killing Nick; she is afraid to have nothing economically. She is a femme fatal, however I don't think she's a typical one. Her love for Frank is obviously true and she wants to be swept off her feet with a man she's actually happy with.
The use of shadow and lighting is always used in these types of "Noir Fims", its almost its signature. In the scene shown above of the movie "The Postman Always Rings Twice", we can can't see the actual jail bars, but we know he is in jail by seeing the shadows of the bars. Not only was it the locations that were used for this film that were dark, but the time of day, which was night. They used the night to make all the lighting standout and give it a spooky, thriller feel to it. For example, when Cora and Frank were planning to electrocute Nick in the bathtub I noticed most of the lights were off, except for the bathroom light, which made me focus on the bathroom. The camera angels are also equally important. They guide the light on the direction its going and the amount of light that is being shown depends on the scene. This film style is also helped by the choice of music. Instrumental/dramatic music brings it all together; a lot of violin is included in this type of music. They keep the scene rolling with the slow part of the song yet rise it up to the loud part when something exciting is about to happen. One example for the music can be when Cora doesn't want to get caught by Nick that she was planning to run away with Frank. She gets back home as fast as she can (dramatic music plays here) to get the simple little note she had left Nick on the cashier box, until finally she arrives and grabs it.
Shown above is actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt who stars in the Neo Noir thriller movie "Brick"
directed by Rian Johnson.
"NEO -NOIR"
I strongly think that there is a huge difference between color and black/white films. The dark and exaggeration of lighting gives the films a way more dark feeling compared to color films. There is something about black that makes it interesting, not just in films but also in other subjects, such as fashion. We view it as classy, however there is something bad about the color, which are two incredible combinations. I noticed that with film noir movies I have watched, there is something they have in common; that is crime and harsh type of love. For example in the movie "Dead Men Don't wear Plaid", Rigby Reardon (Steve Martin) is falling in love with Juliet Forrest (Rachel Ward), but he knows it would be trouble to get involved with her. He seeks for ways not to fall for her and wants to be a man who doesn't settle down. The story line is also similar to "The Postman Always Rings Twice", because Frank knows that falling for Cora is nothing but trouble too. The arrangement of scenery is highly detailed for the viewer to experience what the director wants the viewer to see. For example, when the director focuses on a character, the other character may be in the background. Most of it is left to the viewers imagination, because film noir scenes are for you to picture what happens between everything that's going on.
